About Nicolas Etessami
Hello! I am an incoming third year at the University of St Andrews, studying Mathematics and Computer Science.
My summer 1 research focus was on applying Bayesian networks to electroencephalography (EEG) data. My research poster was presented at the 2025 Global Laidlaw Scholars Conference in Durham, where it was selected by Taylor & Francis to be published.
My summer 2 Leadership in Action project is based in Hinohara village, Japan. I am partnering with Satoyama School Tokyo to support their ongoing efforts in learning, preserving, and sharing the traditions of a "satoyama" lifestyle: an old, nature-focused way of living in mountain villages.
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Reading on your take gives me the impression that staying in Japan is revealing to be enriching and special, this opportunity sounds deeply beneficial. How are you navigating the language barrier at the moment? Curious to know. :)
That is a great question, and the language barrier is certainly one of the largest challenges of the project so far. Before coming, I spent about 5 months learning Japanese, but of course actually being here and speaking it is a different ball game entirely. Currently, the way in which I communicate depends on who I'm talking to. Some speak enough English to communicate sufficiently in it. Some speak only very little, but with a combination of English, Japanese and clear body language, we get by. As a last resort there is also google translate which is especially useful when communicating more complex ideas. Of course it never feels great to go to a different country and then ask them to speak your language, but ultimately there is only so much one can do - I believe that what is important is that you put in effort either way.